Murder suspect to be tried in Alexander Co.

Michael Fencil, the suspect in a deadly armed robbery that occurred at the Brown Bag Video II Store in McClure, Ill., on July 31, will stand trial in Alexander County.

Attorneys for Fencil argued for a reduction of the $1 million bond at a hearing Friday, but it was denied. Requests for a change of venue were also denied, according to court record of the proceedings.

Fencil, 25, of Mounds, Ill., is charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, armed robbery and first-degree murder for the shooting of Charles A. Caldwell, a Brown Bag Video Store customer who was killed in the robbery.

Caldwell, 30, ran for a position on the Cairo City Council in February and had been an employee at McGinnis Flower Shop.

According to the Illinois State Police, Caldwell was shot twice with a long-barreled handgun.

The store clerk who was on duty at Brown Bag Video suffered a gunshot wound to the arm.

Police said Fencil fled the scene but was arrested the next day after they tipped off the police department in Ottawa, Ill., that he had family in the area and might head there.

They had already secured a warrant for Fencil's arrest when he was apprehended in Ottawa because the phone lines to the store had been cut, alerting police the suspect was familiar with the store, Diane Weber, a store employee, said in an interview the day after the robbery.

Fencil will be granted a mental examination and evaluation by state psychiatrists before trial, requested by his attorneys, according to records.

A pretrial hearing was set for 10 a.m. Nov. 21, and the trial begins Dec. 12.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department, the Alexander County Sheriff's Department, the Illinois State Police and the Ottawa Police Department were all involved in the investigation.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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